


For When The Time Came

by Ringofbees (Harmonicsconfusion)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Actor Pearl, F/F, High School AU, Human AU, Techie Amethyst, Theatre
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-12 13:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4480106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmonicsconfusion/pseuds/Ringofbees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pearl is an actress trying to break her way into her high school's theatre departments when she just so happens to meet the very flirtatious techie, Amethyst.<br/>Also with tiny gay stage managers Ruby and Sapphire, and some other underlying pairings that may show up in future chapters, I'll update tags as the story progresses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Hope I Get It

Three bells signaled her release from class, throngs of chatting students filed out of their classrooms, eager to go home, save for Pearl. The bright smile on her face suggested excitement, a slight skip in her step as she half-walks, half-runs to the theatre room, luminescent eyes sparkling all the while.   _It has to be up by now, there's no way it's not up yet!_  She turned a corner a little too quickly, almost running into a familiar face. 

 

Lapis mumbled a quick " _sorry_ ", her electric blue hair pulled loosely back into a pony tail, her bangs and a few stray hairs falling out, covering her ears and framing her face nicely.

 

"Good afternoon, Lapis," she said with a smile, holding her theatre textbook tightly against her chest, beginning to walk again. Lapis sauntered beside her, matching her pace. "Headed to the call board?"

 

"You bet! Do you think you made?" Her tone of voice was confident and ecstatic; they weaved in and out of the crowed of students headed to catch their busses. 

 

"I'm not entirely sure," Pearl scratched the back of her neck, her nerves on edge "My audition didn't go so well, I'm a better dancer and singer than I am an actor."

 

Smiling brightly, Lapis gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, "Eh, don't worry about it! It's a really dance heavy show so you should be fine." They got to the music and arts wing and sped up to a brisk walk. There where far less students in this part of the building as usual, but they could see a large clump of kids down at the end of the hall. 

 

"Is it posted yet!?" Lapis called down the corridor; a few kids in the group turned their heads to see who asked, although most of them paid her no mind. One of them said a quick _“Yeah”_ before turning back to looking at the bulletin board. "Yes!" Lapis jumped with excitement and started to take up a jog to meet up with her peers.

 

"You go on ahead! I'll check when it's less crowded. " Pearl called out as she was leaving. 

Lapis stopped and looked back at her friend, "Do you want me to text you if you made it?"

 

Pearl shook her head, "No, I'd prefer to see it myself. Thank you though." She had wanted to get a good look at it when there weren't as many people around, Pearl hates large crowds, always too much pushing and shoving. Lapis gave her a smile and a nod before she turned and dashed ahead towards the group of people. 

 

Pearl sighed and took out her phone.  _2:33pm_ _0 New messages_. Figures. She looked at the swarm of people at the end of the hall, some of them where hugging, a few kids crying, but most of them where either pulling out their phones to get a good picture of the list or shoving the rest of the group trying to get a better look. 

 

This was the one part of theatre Pearl didn't like very much.  So dramatic.  _Although_ , she figured, _that is to be expected from the drama club_. She walked down the hallway a little further until she found the side-hall full of practice rooms and wondered if any of them where left opened by the band students.

 

The first few doors she tried where locked, but luckily the forth door to the right swung opened with ease and she entered the small room. A few music stands where scattered in the corners and a small piano was pressed tightly against the furthest wall. 

 

It wasn't a very big space, but it was a nice spot to avoid the loud fuss of the cast list commotion. She carefully placed her bag by the door; setting her book on the bench beside her she sat down, resting her hands on the smooth surface of the keys. She took a deep breath and tried to forget the worries of making it into the show or not. She just let her fingers run free, plucking out the notes of a sweet familiar tune. She played softly enough that it shouldn't be too much of a bother to anyone outside, but just enough so that the music echoed around her. She hummed along with the melody softly as she played, getting lost in the song. She continued to play one thing after another until she felt nothing but calm wash over her. 

 

She wasn't sure how much time had past when she finally raised her hands from the instrument and stood up. She reached down and pulled the phone from the pocket of her jeans to check the time. It had only been about a half an hour but that was more than enough timed for everyone to have finished checking the cast so Pearl pulled her bag up off the ground and started to heading out the door.

 

She spent most of the walk down the hall trying to convince herself she didn't care, that it was a small cast, let alone the first production she had even auditioned for in this school since she moved this year and that it would make sense if she didn't make it.   _I mean if I don't make the show I can always join crew, right?_  she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she could see the bulletin board down the hall,  _I Hope I Get It_ was playing on repeat in her head, ironically enough, as she made her way to the list. No piece of paper had ever felt more daunting than a musical cast list. No one was around and to see her, there where still a few stragglers hanging around the band room but no one she knew and they where too busy dealing with their own conversation to even give a glance in her direction so she didn't mind. 

 

She looked up at the sheet of eight and a half by eleven, black ink letters neatly printed--this paper was fate of how the next four months of her school career may play out. _Now look who’s being the dramatic one_ , she thought as she felt the weight of her nerves sinking back down to the pit of her stomach, she knew it was a main cast of 8 with only a handful of ensemble members thrown in their to give a few more people a chance. She started off looking at the bottom of the page.

 

Four names where listed under the bolded word  **ENSEMBLE**  and none of them where even close to hers. She took a shaky breath before glancing up. The first thing she noticed was Lapis's name was printed right next to _Diana_. Pearl smiled, _Good for her_ , she was happy for Lapis,  _that's a good role and it suits her._  She skimmed over the characters quickly, not seeing it at first, her heart dropped for a brief moment until her brain processed the name stated directly after the label _Judy_. It was hers.

 

 _I made it_ , she brought a hand to her mouth in shock. ‘ _I made the show!’_ She was grinning from ear to ear, she knew how dumb it was to feel this excited but she didn’t really care, she looked back up to read the rest of the page. Underneath the cast list was a single bolded sentence:

 

**Rehearsals start the first of next week, contact Mrs. Quartz if you cannot attend the first read through, she can provide you with your copy of the script before Friday.**

 

Pearl could barely contain her joy; she stood their with a dorky grin on her face, wondering if she could get her script ahead of time so she could practice her lines this weekend. However, her train of thought was cut off abruptly and she was startled out of her excitement when she heard the loud bang of a stapler directly to her left. The smile slipped from her face and her shoulders jumped to her ears, head snapping around in an instant to find the source of the uninvited sound. A shorter girl, no more than 5'3", if even that, stood before her, pinning a piece of paper to the board that she was holding about a foot above her head. 

 

She must of noticed Pearl jump a bit because she glanced up in her direction, her bleached blonde hair falling over her right eye, she sported an old looking Ghost Busters t-shirt that was slightly askew and leaning off her left shoulder, her jeans where so tattered and torn she must have had them for years. As Pearl was glancing her up and down she said "You okay, dude?" 

 

Pearl was still surprised at how she had just snuck up next to her without making a sound all she could do was stutter a quick "What?" 

 

A smirk pulled at the smaller girl's plump lips as she gave a short chuckle, "I said: are you okay? You look really out of it, are you sick or somethin’? Or just a little off your rocker?" 

 

She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself and just shook her head "No I'm fine, I'm okay I-"

 

"Did you make it?"

 

"...huh?"

 

"Ya’ know… Did you make the _show_?" She leaned her elbow on the wall, arching an eyebrow at Pearl. “I can only assume that’s why you’re looking at the cast list all bubbly and starry-eyed.”

 

 _How embarrassing_ , Pearl held a hand to her face, trying to stop herself from blushing, "Oh! Yes, actually I did."

 

The shorter girl looked shocked for a moment, "Wow! Quartz must really like you." 

 

Pearl's eyes went wide, and she cocked her head to the side "W-What?" 

 

"Whoa! Don't sound so offended." The other tossed her head back and laughed, "I'm just saying Mrs. Quartz usually doesn't cast people who haven't been in the department very long, jeez, did you **sleep** with her to get in or something?"

 

Pearl went completely red in the face, "No! I would never-" it was pretty obvious she looked up to her teacher a lot, and although she was very beautiful, she wouldn't even think about—

 

"I'm just pulling on your leg, don't sweat it." She chuckled again when Pearl let out a breath she hadn't realized she's been holding, hanging her head in embarrassment. "Anyway, I have to run, I have a fresh pile of two by fours with my name on em' that have to be stacked before I leave and I don't want to stay any later than I have to." She spun a key ring on her finger as she started to walk away, after making it a few feet she stopped and turned back and gave Pearl a big smile, "Congrats on making it by the way, I'll see yah around then." She turned back and headed off in the direction of the back door to the theatre. 

 

Pearl watched her as she vanished behind the metal door before she turned back to the cast list one more time; she looked at her name and smiled.  _This is going to be interesting._

Out of curiosity she spared a look at the piece of paper the mystery girl had tacked to the board. 

 

**Set build schedule:**

**Starts THIS weekend and runs up until tech week**. 

It was followed by a small calendar that specified days and times set builds would be taking place with a small agenda of what they where going to get done each day. 

 

 _Interesting_ , Pearl thought as she pulled out her phone to send Lapis a quick  _Congratulations!_  text before she walked to her car. 

 

 

___

 

When she got out to the parking lot Pearl gave a quick glance around to see that it was roughly empty, aside from the few cars that where still left there by other students who had stuck around for whatever clubs or sports hadn’t let out yet. She pulled out her keys and pressed the unlock button before walking to where she had left her mini-van. It was an older model Mercedes her parents got her about a year ago, it was in pretty good shape for its age and she absolutely loved it, dents and all. She hopped in the driver’s seat before putting the key in the ignition. 

 

She lay her forehead on the top of the steering wheel for a moment and let out an enervated sigh. For some reason she couldn't get the girl from before off her mind, they barely even talked and yet somehow the short ball of energy had left an imprint in Pearl’s mind. She was at least a few inches shorter than Pearl, considering she herself was 5'8 as opposed to the other girl's meager height of 5'1. Along with being much shorter, she was also on the chubbier side- additionally, she had this confident air about her and she's just kind of really...   _Cute?_  Pearl shook the thought out of her head. No actually, she didn't seem confident, she just seemed cocky more than anything. Not to mention she looked like a total slob with the way the collar of her shirt was stretched out and slipping off her shoulder. And she didn't even know where to _begin_ with the mess on her head, it looked as though it hasn't seen a hairbrush in weeks, it was unkempt and knotted, not to mention her roots where about an inch outgrown, why would you bother bleaching it if you aren’t going to keep up with it? Not cute at all.

 

… But there was something in the way her cheeks would puff out just a bit as she would start to laugh. The way her hair fell in front of her eyes and she didn't seem to mind it enough to brush it out of the way. How whenever Pearl said anything, even if it was just an awkward and incoherent mess of stuttering syllables, she was looking her right in the eye as if every word she mumbled out meant something important. 

 

It was endearing almost, something about her just reeled Pearl in, for just a moment she forgot why she was even standing there, whatever she was thinking about didn’t matter for just a moment, the musical didn’t matter, her chemistry test next week didn’t matter, everything just stopped. Something about this girl just drew her in and she didn't even know what her name was. 

She let out another melodramatic sigh and turned the key, her car humming to life. She backed out of her parking space thinking,  _I made the show and that's what’s important. I need to make sure I don't get distracted so I can do well in the show and make a good impression on the theatre department._

__

 

When she got back home both of her parents where still at work so she had the whole place to herself. She threw her car keys on the table and walked to her room before flopping down on the bed exhausted.

 

It was only 4:31 but she should probably get started on her homework before she got distracted and she had some time to kill before she would have to start making dinner. She sat up on her bed and glared down at her book bag, trying to remember what work she had to do in each of her classes. 

 

After a few moments passed she concluded that she should study for Chemistry test that was either on Tuesday or Thursday next week, she had to work on a character analysis for her Advanced Theatre class, and she had a project for Language Arts that she would need to turn in by the end of next week. She was doing pretty well in Chemistry at the time being and she had a whole weekend to look over her materials. In Language Arts they already started the project in class so she already had a good outline finished. Logically she decided she could just get the character analysis done and turned into Mrs. Quartz by tomorrow. 

 

Pearl pulled out a sheet of paper and her folder before she remembered that the rubric was shut in her textbook. She shifted through her bag, only to realize it wasn't even in there. That's odd, she was sure she had it in there before. She pulled the bag in her lap and rummaged for a minute before coming to the conclusion it was no longer where she thought. She let out a long exasperated groan, letting her bag fall to the floor. Just great, she thought, _I can't do the assignment without following the rubric, I'll have to ask Mrs. Quartz about that tomorrow before class_. At least she had a few more days to complete it, so there was no rush, but it was the one thing she looked forward to working on.  She breathed out her nose in a huff before reaching back into her bag so she could get the materials she needed to study chemistry instead. 

 


	2. I Can Do That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ruby is a very passionate small senior with ADHD who moves her arms a lot when she talks and loves her girlfriend and co-stage manager Sapphire. Also some more stuff with Pearl and Amethyst because that's kind of what this entire piece of writing is about.

Pearl rolled out of bed that morning at the ungodly hour of _five thirty am_. Initially she just planned on studying for chemistry. But she finished sooner than she planned and decided to look over her reading assignment for English, she decided to quickly skim over the first chapter to get herself started. But after a short few minutes, skimming turned into actually reading, and then finishing the first six chapters of the book only to crash at three in the morning completely exhausted.

 

After being out cold for around two hours she found herself pressing the snooze button on her phone alarm and dragging herself out of bed. She silently cursed whoever’s idea it was to set an alarm for this early as she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

 

Oh that's right... _It was her idea_.

 

She managed to get herself cleaned up and dressed for the day, remembering she should to get to school early and ask Mrs. Quartz about her assignment. Quickly pulling together all of her stuff, Pearl hopped in her van and was off to school.

                                                          

As soon as she set foot in the main building she headed directly to the music wing to ask about the character analysis rubric.

 

The most logical place to find Mrs. Quartz would probably be the drama room, so she set off to check there first. Unfortunately it seemed to be locked. She peered inside the window to see that all of the lights were off.   _Figures_ , Pearl yawned and rubbed her eyes realizing,  _Mrs. Quartz doesn't have any class first or second hour._  Not to mention its still 20 minutes before the first bell even rings so it's not like she would have much reason to be getting ready for class just yet.

 

Letting out a deep sigh, Pearl decided she would check the drama and music offices, she switched the shoulder she was carrying her bag with and started to walk to the other end of the hallway.

 

That was until she heard a loud voice calling from behind her.

 

"Hey, Pearl! Can I talk ta'ya for a sec!" 

 

Turning quickly in surprise, she noticed two shorter figures that seemed to be walking in her direction from the end of the hall, one of them waving frantically. 

 

"Ruby, there's no need to shout. She probably has somewhere to be." 

 

"Babe, I know Pearl, its fine."

 

"That's not what I was talking abou-" 

 

Pearl puffed a comical breath of air out her nose when she realized who it was and she took a few strides in their direction to see what Ruby wanted. She was lucky enough to share a table group with Ruby in her Calculus class and they would strike up a conversation every now and then. Despite her short size she was actually a senior, apparently she had to retake the first semester of the class because she had failed it the year prior. That wasn’t much of a surprise considering her work ethic, she as stubborn and rowdy and tended to blow things off, not to mention she was notoriously considered to be hot-headed and had a reputation of getting into fights with the teacher about any assignment she didn’t understand. Bad studying habits and temper aside, she was pretty sweet and friendly when you got to know her and she always put her whole heart into everything she did. She had a real passion for debating and she always had to state her opinion. She also had a bad habit of arguing absolutely everything, even when she knew she was wrong. Sometimes she would even try to start something with the teacher in the middle of class declaring, _"Why do I even need to know this? I'm never even going to use math!"_ She and Pearl had managed to become friendly acquaintances through Ruby asking to copy the homework within minutes before it was due, and Pearl politely trying to calm her down when she got unreasonably upset at the curriculum.

 

She stepped forward in front of the two smaller women, "Good morning. Is there something you needed, Ruby?" Pearl tried desperately to put on the most genuine smile she could muster, but to no avail, her tired brain would only let her give a casual smirk. 

 

Ruby didn't seem to notice, waving her hand casually in front of her face, "Nah nah, I just wanted to know if you saw the cast list yet. You have seen it right?" Pearl nodded. "Good! Congrats on sticking a part by the way! Oh and I've mentioned Sapphire before haven't I?" She asked, gesturing to the girl beside her, taking the lady’s smaller hand in her own.

 

Pearl smiled, thinking back to all the times shed brought her up in class as _"my beautiful girlfriend Sapphire!",_ she was pretty sure Ruby hadn't gone a day in her life _without_ mentioning. "Yes, you have, quite a few times actually." She turned to the girl standing next to Ruby, at a first glance she seemed more reserved, her thick bangs fell in front of her eyes and she had a generally stoic expression on her face. "It's nice to finally meet you." 

 

 "Likewise." Sapphire gave Pearl a polite smile and a nod. 

 

Ruby spoke up, letting go of Sapphire's hand for a moment so she could make wide hand gestures as she spoke, "Anyway! As you already know from auditions, I'm gonna be your stage manager for the show," she said pointing at herself before jerking a thumb in Sapphires direction, "alongside Saphy here who, unfortunately couldn’t make it to watch any auditions 'cause she hada cold." 

 

Pearl opened her mouth say something when Sapphire spoke up, turning her head towards Ruby.

 

"And whose fault was that exactly?"

 

Ruby furrowed her brow, murmuring to Sapphire "Hey, I warned you I wasn't feelingly well the day before but you didn't listen.   _You_  where the one cuddling up on  _me_ , remember?"

 

Sapphire blushed and turned her head away from Ruby, whispering under her breath in a barely audible tone. "Well it isn't _my_ fault you're so warm."

 

Ruby laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close, "Well it's not MY fault you're cold all the damn time." Ruby nuzzled into Sapphire's neck, only to result in her hiding her face in her hands in an attempt to stop herself from blushing. 

"You're so embarrassing; we're going to get scolded for PDA again." She whispered, leaning back into Ruby.

 

"Aww, Sapph, no one’s around to care." 

 

Pearl, feeling a little bit forgotten, cleared her throat quickly before saying, "I'd love to stick around and talk but I have to go- either of you wouldn't happen to know where I could find Mrs. Quartz right now would you?" She asked, fiddling with the strap on her book bag. 

 

Ruby looked up at her, still leaning her head on Sapphire's shoulder. Apologetically she responded, "Oh man, Quartz isn't usually around until about second hour. You can probably find her in her office before the end of first, but chances are she isn't there now. Sorry."

 

Pearl let out a sigh, "I see, thank you anyway." 

 

Before Pearl walked away Sapphire brushed the hair out of one of her eyes and smiled at her. "We look forward to working with you in the show." 

 

 Pearl nodded, giving a genuine grin back at her   "Me too!... I'd better get to class then, it was really nice meeting you Sapphire." Sapphire smiled brightly and gave a small wave.

 

"And I'll see you later in math class!" Ruby jumped in, her arm moving from Sapphire's waist up to around her shoulder. 

 

"Yes of course." Pearl laughed and waved goodbye before turning and walking back to the main section of the school.

 

__

 

After being stuck in a lengthy hour of Chemistry with Lapis, Pearl finally managed to make her way down to the music and drama offices. When she got to the door and looked inside, she could see Mrs. Quartz through the door window and gave three quick taps on the glass.

 

Rose glanced up from her papers, upon noticing Pearl at the door she smiled brightly and waved her in. Pearl carefully opened the door and stepped forward, "Hello Mrs. Quartz."

 

"Good morning!" She responded with the upmost enthusiasm, "is there something I can help you with, Pearl?" She said, sliding the reading glasses off her face and placing them gently on her desk.

 

Pearl straightened her back, "Yes, I was actually wondering if you by chance had any extra copies of the rubric for the character analysis by chance? I seem to have misplaced my theatre textbook and I left my worksheet shut in the cover." She fiddled with a loose string at the hem of her shirt, she was never good at talking to teachers, but she really looked up to Mrs. Quartz and for some reason it was absolutely nerve wracking.

 

The response she got was a full hearted laugh, "That seems unlike _you_ of all people to misplace a textbook, although it does happen to the best of us. Although, luckily for the both of us I don’t have to give you an extra copy, hold on a moment." She reached down into her bag, her strawberry blonde hair falling over her shoulders in waves. When she sat back up she had a textbook in hand. She held it out to Pearl before adding, "Supposedly, you left it in a practice room the other day, another student found it while cleaning up and brought it to me before they locked up the theatre last night."

 

Taking the book from her Pearl looked down at her hands in shock. "If you see them again please tell them I said thank you!" 

 

"I will, you can count on it." She smiled brightly "I assume you've seen the cast list by now, am I correct?"

Pearl tucked the textbook under her arm before looking back up at her teacher, "Yes! I saw it last night." 

 

Running a large hand through her long curls Rose replied, "That's good. Are you going to be able to make it to the read through on Monday?" 

 

Pearl nodded "Yes of course. Speaking of which, I was wondering if I could get my copy of the script early by chance? I want to be able to look over my lines this weekend before any rehearsals." She felt her phone vibrate in her pants pocket while she was speaking.

 

Mrs. Quartz nodded. "Yes, I can do that. I don't have them with me now, but if you stop by my classroom by the end of the day I can get it to you along with the rehearsal schedule." 

 

 _One more thing to remember_ , Pearl rubbed the back of her neck, "I'll make sure to do that then! Thank you so much ma'am." Right as she was about to turn and leave she heard the bell ring for second hour. "Oh no..."

 

Mrs. Quartz held up a hand. "Don't worry dear, I'll write you a pass." She opened up her drawer to find her stack of white slips. "What class are you headed to." 

 

"English 11." 

 

Quickly scribbling something down with her pink grading pen she tore off the white slip of paper, holding it before her student. "I expect great things from you, Pearl. You have a lot to offer this department." She smiled up at Pearl brightly. Something about the way she encouraged was uplifting; it made her feel just a little bit... Important. It was this kind of motivational attitude that made her such a fantastic teacher. 

 

"Thank you Mrs. Quartz. Really." She placed the pass on top of her textbook and headed for the door. As she was leaving she heard from behind her:

"Don't worry about it, just don't be too late to class. You're one in a million Pearl, don't forget that." 

 

Pearl thanked her again and waved goodbye as she closed the office door before she rushed down the hallway to class. 

 

About half way there she pulled out her phone to see who had texted her.

 

_1 New Message_

 

She opened it 

_Lapis Lazuli:_

_heyyyy, you by chance wouldn't have any notes from the lecture about cations and anions from today would you? i kinda zoned and have no idea what is even happening in that class_

_As usually Lapis,_ Pearl hummed to herself before typing out:

**Yeah, meet me by my locker before 5th period lunch and I can let you borrow them.**

The response came almost immediately in three waves.

 

_Lapis Lazuli:_

_cool! ur the best!!!!_  
B >  
(thats u with sunglasses bc your cool)

 

Pearl rolled her eyes and tucked her phone back in her pocket right as she reached her classroom door.

 

__

 

Pearl went through the rest of her day grudgingly, she got her notes to Lapis and managed to pick up her copy of the script from Mrs. Quartz, who reminded her “Only use pencil in here unless you want to buy the script at the end of the show.” To which Pearl replied with a smile and a nod. 

 

She stopped by the callboard to check if there were any updates. But as it seems the only sheets of paper tacked to it are the cast list and the crew schedule that was put the day prior. She decided to see if there were any set builds coming up soon, she was usually an actress at heart but she always loved lending a hand with building and painting when she could.

 

There was an opened set build this Sunday starting at eight in the morning to go over the set design and start putting together platforms. _I don’t really have any plans on Sunday so I could probably spare a few hours in the morning_.

 

She pulled out her phone and took a quick picture of the chart before turning around to head to the parking lot. But right as she was walking by, the back door to the theatre swung opened; the stout girl from yesterday was standing in the door frame holding a clip board. 

 

 She didn't notice Pearl at first because she flipping through the pages on her clip board and mumbling something under her breath. A baseball cap was sitting crooked on top of her head, her mess of hair pulled back into a ponytail that pored over her back, yet somehow it still managed to get in her face without fail.

 

Even when she strained to listen, Pearl couldn't quite make out what she was whispering, but she picked up a few words like "Late" "behind schedule" and "dumb freshman."

 

Just as she noticed she had been staring for a few moments too long, the girl looked up at Pearl. 

 

Panicking, her gaze snapped forward at the hallway as she tried to play it casual and act like she was just walking by but it was too late.

 

"Heyyyy show-stopper, what a coincidence."

 

Pearl stopped again looking back at the girl, "...Show-stopper?"

 

The response she received was a nonchalant shrug, "Listen, I don't think about the nicknames they just come out. It's not like I know your actual name anyway considering we met, like, once." She raised an eyebrow and looked up at her, as if she expected an introduction. 

 

Taking a deep breath she stood up a little taller and stated, "Pearl… it's Pearl." She took a step forward so she wasn’t standing in the middle of the hallway, the other simply looking up with a sly grin. 

 

"Pearl... It's pretty.... it suits you." Pearl felt her face heat up, she was about to mumble out a _thank you, I guess,_ when a chubby hand was held in front of her "I'm Amethyst by the way, nice ta meet ya'." 

 

Cautiously shaking her hand, Pearl couldn’t help but think the same thing _, pretty_. So mystery girl from yesterday finally had a name, as soon she returned the hand to her side the other began talking again.

 

"Oh! And, uh, you would have happened to have seen a little annoying freshman by the name of Peridot hanging around anywhere, have you?"

 

Pearl cocked her head to the side, "No I can't say that I have." 

 

The girl- Amethyst, let out a loud groan. "About this tall? Green hair that sticks out everywhere? Annoying prick?" Amethyst went through a flurry of hand gestures to which Pearl smiley shook her head. Sighing she put a hand on her hips, the other loosely waving her clipboard in a circular motion, "She's supposed to be helping  set up the stage lights right now but she's late.” She stopped moving and her facial expression shifted from slightly irritated to completely and utterly annoyed as she deadpanned, “By _a half an hour_." She let out a huff of air and crossed her arms. Looking at her feet she mumbled, "To think, a damn freshman, by some miracle, gets the job of lights head and she doesn't even show up to do her the little work she has." 

 

Pearl ran her hands through the short hair on the top of her head and suggested "Well if she's not here why don't you just try doing it?"

 

Amethyst blinked up at her, her face completely blank for a moment until she erupted into a fit of laughter. "Boy, you sure are funny, freckles. I may be a techie of many skills, but lights are not my thing. I'm more of a... sound chick than a lights gal, _ya feel_?"

 

Pearl wasn't sure how to respond so she just shrugged. Amethyst let out a snort, "You sure are something. Now, what are you up to in this part of the building nearly a half an hour after school's out?" 

 

She shifted her weight to try and lean on the door she was holding open, but her face dropped from sly to immediate regret in an instant when it squeaked open further than she expected, letting her balance give way. Amethyst barely caught herself on the door handle, letting her clip board drop, her hat tumbled from her head onto the floor and all she could manage to do was look back up at Pearl wide eyed. A deep shade of red slowly covering her face as she blinked in shock.

 

Pearl started to say "Are you okay?" in an attempt to be considerate, but she couldn't help herself, she brought a hand to her mouth to try and muffle her laughter but it didn't do any good. Amethyst swiped her hat off the ground and held it in her right fist, her cool facade she was attempting to build up completely lost, she glared up at Pearl who, at that point, had stopped trying to hide the fact she was laughing. 

 

"Hey! W-What's the big idea! I'm trying to be nice and make conversation and here you are laughing at me," Amethyst straightened her back and crossed her arms, looking to the side. "It wasn't that funny." That last bit was softer but just loud enough for Pearl to hear. 

 

Pearl sighed loudly in attempt to stop herself from giggling, her face almost as red as her hair. "I'm sorry, it's just-" she had to pause again to take a breath and wipe a tear from her eye. "I'm sorry. What where you saying? ...Before you….. ya know?" she let out another small chuckle, feeling a little bit guilty.

 

Amethyst tried to glare her down, but she only maintained a stern composure for a moment before she broke and started smiling. She let out a quick laugh. "Oh fight me, bean stalk!"

 

"Bean stalk?" Pearl scoffed, trying to sound offended, which was hard to pull off considering she still had to wipe the grin off her face.

 

"Heh, yeah." Amethyst twirled one of the hairs that where falling out of her pony tail on her finger as she gazed back up at Pearl, she opened her mouth to say something when there was a sudden stomp of footsteps coming from all the way down the hall and they both turned their heads to see who it was coming from. 

 

"...PERIDOT **WHERE** THE _HELL_ HAVE YOUBEEN?" Amethyst's train of thought came to a halt as she shouted at the girl who had come running out of nowhere.

 

Pearl looked back and forth between the two as a girl with bright green hair slowed to a halt in front of them, hunching over with her hands in her knees to catch her breath. 

In between gasps she mumbled out "I was at- gamer's club - I thought - I - told you...."

Amethyst put her hands on her hips, staring her down. "You most certainly did NOT tell me that. You're lucky it's just me and Jasper here right now 'cause Diamond would have ripped you a new one." 

 

Peridot looked up at her and deadpanned, "Jasper is _helping_ you?"

 

Amethyst sighed " **No.** She's napping on the couch in the green room."

 

Peridot rolled her eyes, "Figures."

 

Amethyst bent down to retrieve her fallen clipboard from earlier; she shoved it in front of Peridot. " _THIS_ is a list of all the things that need to be checked, replaced, and set up." Running her temple with her thumb and forefinger she continued, "Now can you please get that sorry excuse for a crew member off her lazy ass and go do the one job you are expected to do?"

 

Peridot snatched the clipboard from her hands. "Just because you're a year older than me doesn't mean you get to boss me around." She grumbled, flipping through the sheets of paper.

 

"Yeah well the only reason you get to be lights head as a freshman is because Jasper is too lazy to handle it and I didn't want to give up my position on sound, you got that?" 

 

Peridot pulled the hood of her zip up sweatshirt up over her head and crossed her arms. "I earned this job with my technical lights expertise and you know it, _thank you_ very much."

 

Amethyst stomped her foot down and it made Pearl jump a little bit, she pointed in the direction of the theatre door "Then go _prove it_." 

 

With a huff, she mumbled "Fine, get out of my way short stuff." Amethyst stepped to the side, letting Peridot slide through. When Peridot made it into the theatre Amethyst called behind her, "Yo, at least I don't wear platform shoes to compensate for **my** height, fresh meat!" She kicked the theatre door shut just before Peridot flipped her off. 

 

With a sigh, Amethyst turned and looked back at Pearl, "Sorry about that."’

 

Pearl shook her head and assured her, "Nono, it's fine don't worry about it." 

 

Amethyst leaned back on the door, putting her hat back on her head, not seeming to care that it was sideways. "Peri and I don't actually hate each other; honestly we get along fine outside of crew… She just needs to get a hang of her job and get her ass kicked a little to get actual work done." 

 

Pearl nodded, shifting weight on her feet awkwardly. "ANYWAY, I should probably go make sure that she and Jasper are actually working, so uh, I'll catch you later I guess?" An emotion crossed her face that looked almost like disappointment when she caught Pearl’s eye.

 

Pearl smiled, "Yeah, it was nice getting to know you Amethyst." 

 

"You to, P. Let's talk again sometime, maybe?" 

 

Something about the uncertainty in Amethyst’s tone made her heart jump, “Of course.” Pearl nodded. "I should be headed home now," she gave an awkward wave before adding "goodbye." and starting to walk off.

 

“See ya’ around, _Beanstalk_.”

 

Pearl stopped walking and turned back around with a smirk on her face, “Alright, _short stuff.”_

 

“Oh get lost.” Amethyst smiled and crossed her arms before slipping back into the theatre.

 

She couldn’t help but smile, something about Amethyst just made her feel… comfortable. Pearl was usually the type to get a bit anxious when it came to meeting new people, but after talking to Amethyst for only a few minutes she warmed up almost instantly as if they had been old friends meeting again after not talking for several years. It was kind of refreshing honestly.

 

And with that thought Pearl took a stride forward and was off to her car. _What a day._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geez! This is the longest chapter yet and it's still slow going, don't worry, things pick up a lot more next chapter. Writing Ruby and Sapphire was a ton of fun and i really had a blast with that end bit. We'll see a lot more of Amethyst next chapter I promise. Enjoy! -J


	3. At The Ballet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an ordinary day at set build.

A high-pitched beeping blared repetitively in her ear. Amethyst slowly blinked one eye opened and glared disapprovingly at the alarm clock that lay beneath scattered candy bar wrappers and balled up napkins on her nightstand. She groaned inwardly before rolling on her side so she could get a better reach and pound the dumb thing until the beeping came to an end. 

 

 _Why do I even bother to set that piece of shit?_  She rolled onto her back and pulled her covers up to her neck, her bed making her feel warm and safe for just a moment before she knew she had to face the reality of her day. Staring up at the ceiling, she had to will herself not to fall back asleep. _I have to go help out with set today at around... 8ish?... and it's already...._ She looked back at the clock on her dresser  _7:34, great._

 

She dragged herself from her cozy bed grudgingly and made her way to the closet, maneuvering around the piles of dirty cloths and various stray items littered precariously across her floor. She pried open the door and grabbed a flannel shirt from one of the hangers, tossing it back onto her bed before stretching to grab a pair of jeans from the closet floor. 

 

She rummaged around the rest of her room until she came across an old band t-shirt. It was a little bit old and worn, but it was still wearable so she tucked it under her arm and picked out a clean pair of underwear.

 

By the time she finally got herself dressed the clock read 8:01  _Shit, did set build start at 8:00 or does it start at 8:30 today?_  She couldn't remember, she just sighed,  _I guess I’ll get there when I get there, no point in rushing._ She squeezed through her bedroom door and followed the tight, dimly lit hallway leading to the kitchen.

 

She grabbed a paper bag off the counter and collected an assortment of food items lying around the kitchen. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, a pudding cup from the pantry and a can of soda before shoving it in the bag and rolling up the top, dropping it back on the sticky countertop. 

 

Amethyst jogged back to her room to get her bag and phone before she remembered to check the time again _. 8:16_. She sighed and looked up the stairs, silently hoping someone in her family was awake.

 

"HEY MOM!" She called. 

 

Silence. 

 

" _Mom_!?"

 

At first there was nothing, but then she heard a loud groan and the creak of a mattress shortly followed by the sound of feet hitting hardwood floor.

 

The voice that called back wasn't her mother's. "WHAT DO YOU WANT AMETHYST YOUR MOTHER IS AT WORK, I WAS SLEEPING." 

 

Amethyst walked back towards the kitchen to get her lunch, yelling behind her, "DAD CAN YOU DRIVE ME TO SET?"

 

A loud groan echoed through the house as she heard the door upstairs open. "Fine." The father mumbled as he stomped down the stairs. "Just give me a minute to eat something and get dressed." 

 

Amethyst let out a loud exasperated groan, "I was supposed to be there, like, twenty minutes ago." Not saying a word, her father rubbed his eyes under his glasses and started setting up the coffee pot. 

 

"Well at least just let me have one cup of coffee." 

 

She crossed her arms. "Fine." 

 

She grabbed her makeshift lunch and went to go sit on the couch to wait. She put the small bag lunch into her bag and pulled out her phone and tried to beat her high score on _Ninjump_ before he was finally ready to go.

 

It was 8:55 when she heard the sound of him finally grabbed his keys saying, "Alright let's go." 

 

\--

 

The car ride was quiet aside from the smooth jazz station playing softly in the background. When they got to the school he pulled the car around by the back entrance closest to the theatre and stopped so Amethyst could get out. 

 

"Thanks for the ride… Sorry I woke you up so early." She grabbed her bag and slid off her seat, standing just outside the car door for a moment.

 

"It's fine, I have some work to get done anyway… Do you need a ride home after?" 

 

She shook her head, "Again, It's fine, I'll find one or just walk."

 

He nodded, "Call me if there's an emergency or something." 

 

"Okay." She hesitated a moment, waiting for a potential  _‘Goodbye’_  or  _‘Be safe’_  but after a beat passed he remained stagnant, staring ahead at his steering wheel. She shut the door behind her and gave an awkward wave before he sped off. She let out a big sigh and walked into the building to find that everyone already had their jobs and tasks. She made her way to the theatre to see Ms. Diamond standing in the center looking over a clipboard of things that needed to be done. 

 

She decided to stroll around the corner instead and head straight to the green room so she could drop off her bag before getting to work. When she opened the door to the small room she saw Sadie sitting on the dingy old couch, checking her phone. 

 

Amethyst set her bag down on the table near Sadie, wondering if she should say anything. She didn’t have to for very long because shortly enough Sadie was putting down her phone and smiling up at her, she said a sweet  "Hello, Amethyst!" The way Sadie greeted everyone was just so warm and made the entire morning seem a little bit brighter.

 

Sadie was that  _one_  senior that just made it her  _job_  to be friendly with everyone and make sure they felt included. Amethyst admired that.

She leaned her butt on the table next to her bag and decided to start up a conversation, stalling the inevitability that was explaining to Ms. Diamond why she was around an hour late. "What's up Sadie lady? Avoiding a job or something?"

 

Sadie laughed and shook her head, "Nah, actually I'm just waiting for Lars to get out of the bathroom so we can start working on some platforms. We need to figure out which of the older ones are stable enough to reuse and which ones need to be fixed up."

 

She sighed, pressing her elbow against the arm wrest and leaning her hand on her cheek, "But I have no idea what's taking him so long he's been in there for about," she looked at her phone before groaning,"7 minutes already." 

 

Poor Sadie, she was always stuck working with that slacker. He was in Amethyst's grade so she was decently aquatinted with him and they got along pretty well, but when it came to set builds he was just lazy and didn't ever do the work that was expected of him. "You need to whip that scrawny boy's ass into shape." 

 

Sadie smiled and scratched the back of her head, "Nah, he's actually a pretty good kid once you get to know him. He'll come around and start pulling his own weight eventually, I mean he's going to have to learn how before I'm gone next year." 

 

Amethyst laughed, "You're one of a kind Sadie, but just know I'll kick his ass for you any time just give the word."

 

Sadie leaned forward putting her elbows on her knees. "I probably won't, but thank you anyway Amethyst. Shouldn't you probably go talk to Diamond about getting a job before she yells at you for being even  _more_  late?" 

 

Amethyst groaned, "Yeah, I probably should go do that. You make sure to punch Donut Ears in the dick if he makes you wait any longer though, 'kay?"

 

"I'll consider it." Sadie responded playfully. 

 

"I'll catcha later then!" And with that Amethyst was out the door to the green room.

 

 She walked over to where the supervisor was standing so she could see what was on today's agenda. 

 

"Hey Ms. D, what's the plan?"  

 

Barely glancing up from her clipboard with a stoic exhausted expression, Ms. Diamond replied, "Well if you were actually here an hour ago like you were expected to be you would know that wouldn't you?"

 

Amethyst just shrugged, "Overslept."

 

Ms. Diamond glared down at her. 

"As expected. Well most of the big jobs are already taken by other crew members, but there was this actor girl who showed up to help, I just told her to organize the tool room so she would stay out of the way of any heavy lifting or building for the time being. "

 

"Actor girl?" Diamond just shrugged.

 

"Why don't you go help her since everything else is covered for now." 

Amethyst straightened her back and gave a cheesy salute "Aye aye, Captain!" 

 

This resulted in a blank stare and an unamused "Not today, Amethyst." She turned around and headed towards stage left.

 

 ** _Yikes_** _, who peed in her cereal today?_ Amethyst yawned and turned around to go find this "actor girl" in the tool room.

 

When she got there she pulled opened the door to see a tall shadow illuminated by the dim light of the small room. The door let out a creek, and the figure spun around, startled. 

 

When her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light and noticed who it was she laughed.

"...Pearl?" 

Pearl blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything Amethyst smirked and said, "Ah, it figures you'd be the weird actor chick who shows up the the first set build." 

Scrunching up her nose, arching an eyebrow "Weird actor chick? Is that what they're calling me?" 

 

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." She brushed it off. "So apparently I'm supposed to help you or whatever." 

 

Pearl put a hand to her forehead "Oh, right. So I have no idea what I'm doing, this place is a disaster!" She groaned. "I've done building before and organizing is usually my kind of thing but this is chaos." 

 

Amethyst couldn't help but notice the little upset noises Pearl made in-between sentences.   _Cute_. "Yeah, it's a mess, but you get used to it after a while..."

 

Pearl gestures to a wall with unlabeled boxes of tools in a huff "How are you supposed to find ANYTHING in this?"

 

"Heh," Amethyst blew the bangs out of her eyes. "It's not that hard, it might be a mess but it has a system."

 

"Oh?" Pearl arched an eyebrow, "Like what?" She crossed her arms.

 

"Like..... Okay name a tool."

 

"...Uh, wrench?" 

 

Without more than a moment to think Amethyst pointed to the second shelf from the top. "Take down that wooden box there."

 

Looking at the shelf full of nearly identical boxes Pearl compiled, picking out the one that Amethyst had gestured to. She held the box out in front of her with a questioning look and opened the top before out a socket wrench.

 

"See?" Amethyst smirked, fairly satisfied with herself. Pearl just looked at the box of various wrenches in a state of shock. 

 

"But... It's not even labeled, how did you know which box?"

 

Shrugging, Amethyst responded. "That's usually the shelf we put wrenches and pliers on so I figured that box probably had the wrenches in it." Pearl gave her a skeptical look.  "Listen I know it's a mess and you were told to organize, but most of the people in the crew have this room down by memory so you can't just go cleaning this whole place up."

 

"I _beg_ to differ," she kicked a loose screw at her feet, "but I guess if you guys have a system that works it can't be tampered with, but the least we could do is at least label some of these drawers and containers."

 

"That sounds like a plan!" Amethyst shrugged the flannel off her shoulders and tied it around her waist.

 

The two of them got to work on making sure everything was in its specific container before they pulled out the duct tape and sharpies to put a fresh label and all of them. It took around an hour and a half to get through the entire tool closet but it went by quickly. Occasionally a student would walk in to find a tool and say a quick hello, but most of the time was spent just the two of them, sitting on the cement floor of the cramped room surrounded by boxes and tape and chatting while they worked.

 

From time to time when things got too quite Amethyst would ask Pearl a question about her life, or how she got into theatre. At one point when Pearl mentioned that she had done actually building for the shows before Amethyst laughed and asked her if she for real. 

 

Tilting her head the side Pearl responded bluntly, "...Well, yeah." 

 

" **Seriously**?"

 

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

 

Amethyst shrugged, leaning back on a stack of boxes. "You don't look the type? You've got this whole, giddy actor thing going for you, you just seem like someone who belongs in the spot light." 

 

"Oh, and what's **that** supposed to mean?" Pearl looked up from label she was writing. 

 

Amethyst looked to the side and mumbled, "I dunno... You look like you could be above it all and not have to lift a finger, and," she faced Pearl and puffed out her cheek, continuing in a lower silly voice, "You don't have that **_RAW SET BUILDING MUSCLE_**." She furrowed her brown and put her hands on her hips until she couldn't keep a straight face any longer.

 

They both laughed, "Oh, so you have this _'Raw set building muscle_ '?" Pearl emphasized herself with air quotes.

 

"You **bet** I do!" Amethyst flexed her left arm, and winked at Pearl, "Check out my guns!" 

 

Covering her mouth Pearl let out a snort and looked at the ground, "Alright then." 

 

About two and a half hours passed before they were actually done labeling everything and putting it in the right spots and (at Pearl's request) sweeping up the spare screws and dust on the floor. 

 

Their arms brushed as they slipped out of the dingy dimly lit room. Pearl rubber her eyes as they adjusted to the light inside the actual workshop. Amethyst stretched her arms uo over her head, lips stretching opened to yawn. 

 

"Man, what time is it?"

 

Rubbing her neck with one arm, Pearl looked at the watch on her other.  "About 11:45ish." 

 

 _Who even wears a watch anymore?_  Amethyst smirked. "Well we usually break for lunch at like 12 so I don't know if there are any more jobs to do until then." 

 

As the rounded the corner to the theatre a booming voice called from inside, "Alright, listen up kids!" A small group of students where collecting to stand around Ms. Diamond as she continued, "Frankly there isn't a lot of work left to do today because we don't start any actual building until next weekend, and I also really want to go home. So we're going to end today as soon as everyone finishes the tasks they're currently working on and cleaning everything up. You got that?" 

 

Half the group nodded, the other half gave an unenthusiastic " _yeah_."

 

Amethyst spoke up, " ** _Heyyy_** , Ms. D, what if we're already finished with our job and we've already cleaned up?"

 

She sighed in response, "Then you're dismissed," but she quickly snapped her he'd forward and she stared down her nose at Amethyst, tapping her foot aggressively. "But if I find out you didn't actually do any clean up like last time, Amethyst I swear, you are going to be on brush washing duty from the moment we get to painting all the way up until the final build."

 

Amethyst threw her hands up defensively "Hey, last time was not my fault, Jasper knocked all that saw dust off the table after I left I would bet my life on it." Diamond looked down at her with a dark glare before-

 

"I can assure you that the tool room is very clean due to myself and the help of Amethyst!" Pearl interjected, "Although she could have spent a bit more time actually sweeping up screws rather than screwing around, but it is done nonetheless."

 

The Technical Director sighed, "Fine, I'll take your word for it. But mostly because I'm just tired and want to get home just as fast as any of you kids do."

 

Pearl nodded, "Thank you." And with that she turned on her heels and headed back in the direction of the green room to collect her things.

 

Amethyst followed closely behind but not without yelling back over her shoulder, "Catch ya later, D! Keep it real." To which an exasperated sigh came shortly after.

 

When they were back in the green room Pearl stopped to take a drink at the water fountain and Amethyst sat down on the couch near her bag and pulled out her phone. When Pearl lifted her head from the water fountain she whipped her mouth and turned to ask:

 

“So we’re _really_ just allowed to walk out?”

 

Amethyst didn’t look up from her phone, “Yep.”

 

Taking on awkward step away from the wall, “So I’m guessing you’re waiting for ride then?”

 

She looked up at Pearl uncertainty, “Well sort of… I mean I was probably going to wait and see if Sadie has extra room in her car if she isn’t taking Lars… Or I might ask Jasper.” Although, the thought of being in a car with Jasper behind the wheel was just a little bit terrifying and Amethyst didn’t know if today was the best day to have a near death experience. “That or I was probably going to just walk.” She shrugged.

 

Pearl looked at her wide-eyed for a moment before saying “I mean, I could always give you a ride you know?”

 

Her eyes widened, “Nonono, you don’t have to do that, honestly it should be fine. I’m super okay with just walking.”

 

Tilting her head to the side Pearl asked, “How far away do you live?”

 

“Uh…” she gave an award shrug, “like three miles? And a half? Maybe?”

 

“You’re going to walk three and a half miles?” Her face was in total shock.

 

“…Yes?”

 

Pearl shook her head, “Nope, I’m giving you a ride, that’s it.”

 

Holding her hands up in front of her Amethyst stammered, “You don’t have to do that, it’s alright, I’m totally cool with it, I do it all the time.” She leaned back on the couch, putting her feet up on the armrest trying to act indifferent.

 

Pearl let out a huff and said, “You might be fine with it, but if I just leave now I’ll have to walk around all day with a guilty conscious knowing I could have driven you.”

 

Amethyst fiddled with the tips of her hair, “Well, I mean, if you insist I guess.” She couldn’t help but feel a little happy that this girl she barely knew seemed to care enough that she got home safe.

 

She pulled the keys out of her pocket and smiled, “Let’s go then!”

 

Getting up and following Pearl out the door, Amethyst tried to hold back a smile. They took the long way around the school to get to the parking lot. Pearl clicked the button on her keys to unlock the car door. When she walked up the van Amethyst couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“HA, you have a mom car.”

 

Pearl stood holding the driver’s door open in shock, “ _Mom_ car?”

 

“Yeah! Like it looks like what a soccer mom would drive or somethin’.” She said walking around to the passenger side.

 

Getting in slowly Pearl said quietly under her breath, “Well I think it’s pretty cool.”

 

Amethyst set her bag down on the floor and hopped into the seat, “I mean it’s not a bad thing. It’s just kind of a mom car.”

 

Putting her keys into the ignition Peal sighed, “Well I guess it is, but I like it.” She smiled, starting the van and backing out of the parking space. 

 

The ride was fairly quiet for the most part; Amethyst occasionally gave Pearl directions on how to get to her house, but aside from that she just looked out the window silently. Usually she had trouble keeping her mouth shut, but all she could do was stare at the trees that rolled by and listen to the hum of the car.

 

Something about Pearl drew her in and just _interested_ her. It completely threw her off her game, she felt like pretending to be cool and carefree just didn’t cut it, she was just compelled to keep talking to her but she couldn’t even find the right words.

 

At one point Pearl reached over and turned on her music, playing a CD that was already a few tracks in. It was just some soft piano and instrumentals, “This is the kind of stuff you listen to?” Amethyst said with a chuckle.

 

“It’s… Relaxing. I like it a lot better than the radio.” She said, keeping her eyes forward on the road. “I used to do Ballet a lot as a kid and it really got me interested in classical music, my love for it just never went away, I guess.”

 

“Makes sense. Do you still do ballet?”

 

Pearl sighed, “No, unfortunately. I did a whole variety of dance classes as a kid because I would switch them around every few years. I never stuck with it but it was by far my favorite. Tap was pretty fun to I guess. But most of all I just really liked dancing to the music.”

 

Amethyst thought about adding something but she just nodded along instead. Eventually they were turning into her driveway so she unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her bag, “Thanks for the ride, P.”

 

“No problem, any time.” she smiled back sweetly.

 

“Hey can I get your number?” the words came out of Amethyst’s mouth faster than she could process them, “Ya’ know! So that if there are any days that we really need some extra hands for set builds I can let you know. So you don’t show up during slow days like this… or something.”

 

Pearl smiled, “Yes, that’s a great idea!”

 

Amethyst pulled her phone from her pocket and opened up a new contact page, holding it out to her. “Here, just fill in all your junk and I’ll send you a message so you know who it is and whatnot.”

 

Nodding, Pearl took the phone from her and hummed quietly while she typed in her name and number. She handed the phone back to Amethyst, “There you have it. Now I won’t show up when I’m not wanted.”

 

Amethyst took her phone back, “No! It’s not that you’re not wanted! It’s just, you shouldn’t come all the way to help out and not actually get to do much because we don’t have a lot planned.” She paused and took a breath, “I mean, I know sometimes the techies can be a bit… skeptical about actors doing crew stuff sometimes, but I’m sure they’re all just as glad that we have an extra set of hands to get the job done.”

 

“…Even if I don’t have that **_raw set building muscle_**?” A joking tone in her voice, she smiled.

 

Throwing her head back Amethyst laughed, “Sure, even regardless of that.” She picked up her bag and opened the car door, “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later then. Thank you again, for the ride.”

 

Pearl smiled. “Anytime Amethyst.”

 

She shut the car door behind her and walked up the brick path to her front door. Pearl didn’t start backing out of the driveway until Amethyst was safely inside. _So she’s one of those,_ Amethyst thought with a smile as she closed the door behind her with a click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is up a few hours later than I wanted but here it is! I promise this is the last slow chapter before it starts getting good. Incase you haven't noticed I've been trying my best to update regularly on saturday's and sunday's just to keep myself on track and i've managed to keep up with it pretty well so far so you can expect new chapters every weekend(or at least every weekend I can, I'm starting school next week and I have a fair amount of theatre stuff to keep up with myself so I'll try my best to get a new chapter every week!) 
> 
> But yeah! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, comments are much appreciated and if you ever have any questions or I'm late with posting a new chapter, any new information or updates will be posted on my tumblr here: http://panamethyst.tumblr.com/tagged/fwttc
> 
> Thanks for reading! -J
> 
> (p.s. also, if you've figured out where I'm pulling these chapter titles from you get a thumbs up and a smile because you're pretty cool)

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to give special thanks to http://gr33va.tumblr.com/ for helping keep me motivated and proofreading everything, and sharing their exelent writing wisdom with me!


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